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Spring Camp 2014

M

martymoose

Moderator
Staff member
Spring. Clean slate.

I find it odd that I'm have field goal kicking as one of the top things I'm looking at with a microscope going into spring play. If we'd been able to get some of the 13 points that we left on the field with our kicking game against EWU and Sac State in 2013, we very well should have been 8-4 (5-3), and knocking on the door of the playoffs.

Looking forward to see the defense this spring. Between returning starters, guys that saw action last season, and the transfers, I think we could have something on the defensive side of the ball. "Could" is the key word, but the potential seems to be there.
 
I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what the newcomers will bring to our defense and I'm hoping that this year we can have more confidence in our defensive backfield. The kicking game can only get better so we can look forward to that I hope. Offensively I'm hoping to see someone take charge and run the offense at QB. It's time that became a solid position for us. Also, curious to see who steps up to fill DJ's shoes.
 
Noticed on the spring camp pdf that we lost Victor Dean, Plinke, and Cam Thompson, as well as Rothstein and Cummings on D. Anyone know why?
 
pjstano said:
Noticed on the spring camp pdf that we lost Victor Dean, Plinke, and Cam Thompson, as well as Rothstein and Cummings on D. Anyone know why?
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Read and wondered the same thing. These are all players who are talented and played significant minutes. I read somewhere that there was consideration to play Plinke as running back this year. Too much turnover, in my opinion.
 
YES and I don't know. Grades could have been an issue. Plinke might be gone for the same reason. I have no other information.
 
Dean was a distraction. Always late, attitude problems, huge ego (Heard this from people inside the locker room) I think the team is better off without him. Plinke on the other hand.......He always showed up big. That is a huge hole to fill on both special teams and on offense. Remember how they used him in the wildcat late in the season. He was a monster.
 
Be careful of what you repeat unless you know it to be fact...if anyone has an ego it would more than likely be your Head Coach...haven't you noticed that there is a huge turnover every year. The problem is not always with the players...you were told before that players would be leaving...looks like that message was true
 
wideoutsrule said:
Be careful of what you repeat unless you know it to be fact...if anyone has an ego it would more than likely be your Head Coach...haven't you noticed that there is a huge turnover every year. The problem is not always with the players...you were told before that players would be leaving...looks like that message was true
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Interesting that you are chiding me for saying something that I was told first hand by a player. Their opinion not mine. Are you saying that it's a fact that Burton's ego is getting in the way or is that your opinion? There is a lot of turnover everywhere, if there weren't, how would we have gotten Plinke, Adams, Alexis, Dean, just to name a few. I will admit that it's troubling when you lose players that transfered in. That's why it seems odd that Plinke would leave. The climate has changed for athletes, I have heard it from long time football coaches at the high school level. There is a completely different attitude than there was 35-40 years ago among the athletes. Talk to any coach and they are going to say the same thing.
 
You say that you were told that "Dean was a distraction. Always late, attitude problems, huge ego" by one player, that one player's opinion. Is this something that you have heard from other players or are you going off of a player who may have a bit of an ego himself or an ax to grind? Who knows. Sometimes you have to consider the source and analyze whether they have other reasons for saying certain things. My question simply is do you know this to be fact. I am a firm believer that we have to be careful in the labels that we assign to these kids especially when we don't know the whole story or what is going down in the background of all this. Does Dean really have an attitude or is he just frustrated? Does this player really know what's going on or why this kid may seem to have an attitude if he indeed truly has one. A person perception does not make it fact. What I said about Burton's ego I am speaking from facts, things that I have heard and seen myself. I am not going off of just what players have told me because a player may have their own feelings which may be contributing to their opinion. So that opinion may or may not be biased.I know for a fact that there are some players who regret stepping on the PSU campus because of the way they are being spoken to, treated and disrespected. Some of them have regrets because they have been lied to from the the day they arrived on campus. Some of them didn't have other options so they are stuck, others had/have options and are pursuing those options. Trust is major is getting your players to respect and buy in, for some that trust is gone.The transfers are the ones who seem to be getting the worse of it and that is not good. Transfers contributed significantly last season, they are essential to the success of this program but the word is getting out about the treatment of players and talented players are being discouraged from attending PSU. There are real reasons why players are leaving and until those reasons are truly addressed this program will continue seeing the turnover or see less transfers. In my opinion the players should speak up about it instead of just leaving. Players are simply washing their hands of the program, of Burton and are asking for their releases. If we are going to continue to move forward as a program these issues have to be addressed. Burton may not be all bad, he actually is an ok dude away from the football field but apparently the way he is ineffectively communicating with his players is causing players to throw up their hands in frustration. PSU can actually be a very good football team, there are games that we really should have won that got away from us but until some of these off the field things are addressed it is going to be hard to build any team chemistry because the door will keep revolving. I am close enough to a few of the situations and have seen all the underlying things that a normal fan is not privy to. Plinke left because he was fed up, this is fact.
 
goviks2 said:
With regard to Plinke, my sources tell me that your information isn't accurate.
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Well my info came from the horses mouth...you go with your sources and I will go with mines. Plinke was not returning after the Spring break and asked to be released. I think PSU has the potential to be better and if there are some things that are broken that need to be fixed that will move the team towards more wins and a better overall experience for the players then that should be addressed. I wish the team good luck this season...Go Viks.
 
After the chance the coaches game him to run the ball, after the year he had which must have been a lot of fun...that just doesn't ring true. There is, of course, no way to verify your "horse's mouth" claim. Even if it is true, though, my sources suggest there could have been other reasons for him leaving.

Since you are (or say you are) a Viking football supporter...it's really nice to see that you wish the team well. ;)
 
goviks2 said:
After the chance the coaches game him to run the ball, after the year he had which must have been a lot of fun...that just doesn't ring true. There is, of course, no way to verify your "horse's mouth" claim. Even if it is true, though, my sources suggest there could have been other reasons for him leaving.

Since you are (or say you are) a Viking football supporter...it's really nice to see that you wish the team well. ;)
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I think it comes down to RESPECT...some of these guys are in their 20s, they are young adults so they want to be treated as such. They don't want to be talked down to, ridiculed or made to feel like they are not truly wanted here. So for them it is bigger than just being on the field, the season only last for a certain amount of months what about the off season. The transfers feel like they are not truly wanted here, because everything that is discussed while the coach and his crew are recruiting them seems to go out the window once that LOI is signed and faxed over. So there is no TRUST...RESPECT, TRUST AND COMMUNICATION helps to solidify team chemistry. Team chemistry creates Ws. I definitely want the team to be successful. I'm sure the Administration, boosters and fans would like for them to be successful too. It is my opinion in just listening to some of the guys, that if a lot of the behind the scenes BS was fixed, the player turnover would slow down and the players would feel wanted, needed and appreciated. Like they felt during the recruiting process.
 
I have no choice but to plead ignorance on this issue. Could be something good, could be something detrimental. I don't know, frankly, either way. What you're claiming, though, may be nothing more than supposition and conclusion based on that alone.

I see by the number of posts that you're new. Many cannot but suspect that perhaps you're here to start a rumor. Or perhaps you're here to warn us of an actual impending crisis, that the program is flawed or being conditioned to fail and be sacrificed.

At the coaches' lunches (Old Spaghetti Factory), there are some insiders who can likey lend support. One way is to ask the coach directly to get his perspective and then ask caring others there if they agree and in what measure.

I think your conclusion right now may serve no better purpose than to cast aspersions on the coach before all the facts are in. You could be right, but you may also be incomplete in your factfinding. All we have to go on is your word, that of a newcomer with perhaps nothing more than a casual or perhaps even pernicious interest. This is a forum in which posters can claim just about anything to start a rumor.

No credible conclusion can be reached until we have all the necessary and sufficient data to make that determination. Right now, we have some data: We do see some players abandoning ship. But why are they leaving? Are they being dismissed, disincentivized or are they fleeing a burning ship? You claim the latter, but I am not yet convinced and am willing to give the potentially-innocent the benefit of the doubt for now.

We need more information and I would urge the coach (or even better, the athletic director or adjunctual leadership) to bring about transparency on this issue. A Viking Vision presentation would provide reassurance. This issue likely needs to be brought out into light.

What's going on? You recruit these guys and now they're leaving? Did you get players to excel them? Did they have bad attitudes? Did they not fit into the program scheme? Are there personality clashes? Why this pattern of departure of these prized player recruits?
 
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